Abstract

We present a framework for planning collision-free and safe paths online for
autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) in unknown environments. We build up on our previous
work and propose an improved approach. While preserving its main modules (mapping, planning
and mission handler), the framework now considers motion constraints to plan feasible paths,
i.e., those that meet vehicle’s motion capabilities. The new framework also incorporates a
risk function to avoid navigating close to nearby obstacles, and reuses the last best known
solution to eliminate time-consuming pruning routines. To evaluate this approach, we use the
Sparus II AUV, a torpedo-shaped vehicle performing autonomous missions in a 2-dimensional
workspace. We validate the framework’s new features by solving tasks in both simulation and
real-world in water trials and comparing results with our previous approach.